Sectional Championship: Lady Waves at Unaka
ELIZABETHTON – The Midway Lady Waves traveled to Elizabethton on Friday night. It could have very well been the last game for the five senior members of the team. The Lady Green were scheduled to face a Unaka Lady Ranger team that had manhandled every team in its region this year. The Lady Rangers were sporting a 25-4 record and had allowed no runs in their District and Region Championship games. They were also looking to avenge a nasty 1-0, nine inning loss to the Lady Waves in last year’s Sectional game. Midway was coming off a stinging 1-0 loss in Wednesday’s Region Final against Coalfield. After all the injuries, would the Green still have enough left to earn a fourth straight trip to the State Tournament? Several nervous fans piled out at Unaka High after a long, three hour drive to the top of the state. All of them knew it would be tough to go into hostile territory and come out on top with the win and the berth to Murfreesboro.
Before the game, several of the Midway Seniors stated that they wanted to jump on this team quick and not let up. But most of the Green fans just wanted to survive and advance. What the girls had said would prove poetic. The Lady Waves’ first batter, Krystal Rue, blasted a line drive at the Unaka shortstop. The young lady made a heck of a catch, but Rue had made a statement to the Unaka team. That statement was, “We are going to hit this ball, you’d better be ready to make some plays.” Alex Coffman slapped safe on her first at bat, and Hannah Colyer blasted a shot to left center that scored Coffman. Midway jumped ahead quicker than the Head Coaches former Laguna and had an early 1-0 lead. Unaka would put two runners on in the bottom of the first inning, but a pop out to catcher Rue, a strikeout by Colyer, and a ground out to “Cannon Arm” Coffman would get Midway out of trouble.
In the second, center fielder Paige Moree led off with a walk. Third baseman Hali Morris smacked a nice single over the shortstop’s head, then right fielder Dee Borum put the ball in play to score Moree. Borum would be thrown out at first on the fielder’s choice play. Senior catcher Rue would come up big once again, with a single to left to score Morris. That extended the Midway lead to 3-0. After a walk and an error put two Unaka runners on base, Colyer would end that threat herself with three strikeouts.
In the third, the Lady Waves were not letting up. Senior Kati Alexander would score from first base when Moree drove the ball to right center for a stand-up triple. Moree then stole home on an attempted pick-off play by Unaka. Midway led 5-0. The bottom of the third was a whole lot like the bottom of the second. A walk and a single put two on, but Colyer would again close the door with three more strikeouts.
The fourth inning started with a walk by Borum. A hard shot by left fielder Hayley Patterson moved Borum to second. Patterson was thrown out at first on a great play by Unaka. Then, once again, Krystal Rue laid back and drove a change-up pitch to left field to score Borum. Coffman drew a walk, and Kati Alexander singled to score two more Midway runs. Narramore walked, but was left stranded. Midway had added to their lead, which now stood at 8-0. Two strikeouts and a ground out to Narramore at second would end the fourth.
A light rain had begun to fall, but was never hard enough to stop the game. Midway went in order in the fifth, with two pop outs and a ground out. The Lady Rangers would make a run in the fifth that put a slight scare into the Green faithful. Unaka loaded the bases, and then scored three runs before the Lady Waves could get straightened out. But that was all the Lady Rangers could muster.
The Green team added two more insurance runs in the sixth, after singles by Rue and Colyer, Moree came alive again with a two-RBI single. This extended the Midway lead to 10-3. That would be the final score.
For the fourth year in a row, the Midway Lady Waves are Sectional Champions and, in this writer’s opinion, the best Single A fast pitch softball team in East Tennessee. Once again, pitcher Hannah Colyer was dominating. Senior Krystal Rue (3-4, 2 RBIs) continues to impress at bat and at catcher. Sophomore Paige Moree had the game of a lifetime, going 2-3, with a walk and 4 RBIs. Midway will now face off against Forrest in the opening round of the State Tournament on Tuesday at 6pm (est)/5pm (cst).